Recently, a moderator from Outlander Series, a Facebook Outlander Fan group, brought up the topic whether Black Jack’s actions to save or comfort his brother, Alex, makes him redeemable. He divulged military secrets to the Jacobites and married Mary Hawkins so that her child could carry the family name. My answer to this question is “no,” because Black Jack never repented the atrocities he committed against Jamie and others. However, his actions toward his brother and Mary demonstrates that there is something good in him. He is not inherently depraved. In fact, there is a parallel between Jamie and Randall. Black Jack gave away military information to the enemy because he loved his brother. While in Edinburgh, Jamie used to sell alcohol illicitly to provide for his family. As a result, I decided to explore the notion of war bringing the worst of Black Jack.
Of note is the interaction between Roger MacKenzie and Captain Randall in book 8. The image that Captain Randall transmitted to Roger was not one of a sadist. Roger muses:
Well, he is human. And perhaps he’s not a monster yet (Written in my own Heart’s Blood, ch. 45).
This passage makes the reader ponder whether it is possible for a person to become entirely evil in a matter of months. Chapter 43 reveals that Black Jack will be back in Lallybroch in another year to commit the atrocities against the Frasers. However, this process of degeneration probably took more than one year, even before Captain Randall’s assignment to Fort William. In fact, one of Black Jack’s victims before Jamie was Alexander MacGregor. When did that transformation from good to evil take place? As a member of the army, Black Jack probably was part of some military campaign. Of course, there is no much information about this topic in the series, but the Kingdom of Great Britain had enemies back then, such as the French. Here are some factors that must be taken into consideration.
- Age
- Military experience
- Associations
The moderator of Outlander Series did the favor of looking for Black Jack’s age around the time he met Jamie in The Outlandish Companion. He was around 35, an approximation based on the year in which Brian Fraser died, 1740. Black Jack was born in 1705 and died in 1746 (The Outlandish Companion, 209). As a result, it seems that Captain Randall was a seasoned soldier.
In regards to his experiences as a redcoat, there is no much information. However, there are sufficient details in both the Outlander Series and the Lord John Series about the atrocities that soldiers either witness or commit. In “The Custom of the Army,” Malcolm Stubbs relates the horrors he has witnessed as a soldier. That involves the killing of innocents not in battle, the rape of women, looting, and burning of villages. He describes his subordinates as “brutes.” Furthermore, he considers himself a failure when it comes to controlling his soldiers and preventing crimes (A Trail of Fire, 117). Of course, everybody is different when it comes to reacting to different conditions. Malcolm finds comfort in an Amerindian woman who eventually gives birth to an illegitimate son. One wonders what Black Jack Randall has experienced as a soldier. He seems to fit the description of a “brute.”
Of note is the association between Randall and the Duke of Sandringham. In Outlander, Frank and Reverend Wakefield suspected that Black Jack was under the protection of the Duke, which made it possible for him to get away with his crimes. The Duke is as ruthless as Black Jack. It does not make sense why he did not fire a servant responsible for attacking and raping his goddaughter, even when both characters were living under the same roof. It seems that Captain Randall has been interacting with morally corrupt individuals before the beginning of the Outlander Series.
Thanks for reading!
Sources
Gabaldon, Diana. “The Custom of the Army.” A Trail of Fire. London: Orion Books, 2013, pp. 61-145. Print.
– – – . The Outlandish Companion. New York: Delacorte Press, 1999. Print.
– – -. Written in my Own Heart’s Blood. 2014. New York: Bantam Books. 2015. Print.